Sen. Sam Brownback

In the News

November 21, 2016 | Agriculture Department chiefs tend to come from the Midwest, the conservative-leaning region where much of the nation’s food is produced. Just two of the past eight secretaries have come from outside the area. Using the Census Bureau’s regional designations, 75 percent of agriculture secretaries have come from the Midwest since the department joined the Cabinet…

July 19, 2016 | Republicans are denouncing Ohio Gov. John Kasich for ditching his own party’s convention held in the state he governs. Of course, he’s not the only nationally known GOP leader to skip the proceedings. It gets worse, though: None of Monday’s or today’s prime-time speakers at the Cleveland confab have donated more than $200 to Donald Trump’s campaign or the super…

July 2, 2014 | House members no longer have to report any privately funded trips they take on their financial disclosure reports. A closed-door decision made by the House Committee on Ethics now requires lawmakers in that chamber to report such travel only to the House Clerk’s Office and not with their annual financial filings — which had been…

June 23, 2014 | Last month, former Kansas Rep. Todd Tiahrt announced his candidacy for the state’s Fourth Congressional District seat by shooting some early barbs at his former protégé, incumbent Rep. Mike Pompeo, citing some of the “big policy differences” that divide them. The Republican rivals have one thing in common, though — the hand that has fed their political careers is one and…

January 3, 2011 | In habitually partisan Washington, D.C., a bipartisan group of senators last week helped extend contentious federal tax provisions designed to aid domestic ethanol production. The senators mostly shared common ground on two fronts: geography and contributions from the political action committees of ethanol producers, high-profile ethanol promoters and the leading industry groups for corn, a Center for Responsive Politics analysis indicates.

October 25, 2010 | Various conservative straw polls from this year have put Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich on top as voter favorites. Although primaries don't begin for another 16 months, potential candidates are already laying groundwork for possible presidential runs.
In the meantime, OpenSecrets Blog explores the financial activities during the 2009-2010 election cycle of the politicos who are angling to challenge President Barack Obama in the next presidential election.

September 30, 2010 | The GOP needs to net 10 Senate seats this fall to regain majority status, and Democrats are defending seven open seats and are facing an uphill battle in their efforts to poach an open seat away from Republican control.

July 30, 2010 | A Center for Responsive Politics analysis shows that the biggest contributors to the 49 members of the newly-established congressional Tea Party caucus -- it so far includes only Republican -- are health professionals, retired individuals, the real estate industry and oil and gas interests.
Furthermore, donations from health professionals, oil and gas interests and Republican and conservative groups are, on average, higher for Tea Party caucus members than for members of the House of Representatives in general and even their fellow House Republicans.

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